HU Song - Contemplation - Journey of Soul
I get very bad depression and brain fog from meditation! Anybody else get this? If I meditate in the morning for 30 minutes I feel all relaxed and stuff, but by the afternoon I get the worst depression ever. I even get physical symptoms of my brain feeling inflamed and increased head pressure.
Hi PokerPlayer,
I tried meditation many years ago, and discovered it didn't work particularly well for me. In short, I would get up feeling ready to go (pre-CFS), but would then remember to do my 20-minute meditation. Invariably, I would become very groggy, and go into sort of a stupor. Could then take hours for me to come out of it.
I didn't do a great deal of Soul searching to try to figure out why something apparently so good was not working for me. I just realized it didn't, so I quit. I do remember feeling a bit disappointed at the time. However, I later read that meditation is generally better suited to the culture of India, where they live a more passive lifestyle than we do in the West. The Western culture is more oriented toward a more "active" kind of discipline.
I eventually found a sort of mantra that was supposed to be helpful as an approach much different than meditation. This mantra is known as the HU, and can be used as a "spiritual exercise" or "contemplation" for spiritual upliftment.
My best understanding is meditation, prayer, and contemplation are three different ways to gain certain spiritual benefits. I understand meditation as a way to calm and quiet the mind; prayer as a way to talk with God, or ask God for something; contemplation as more of a "listening" exercise.
I've found the latter, in conjunction with singing the HU, to be more of an "enlivening" experience. It suits me well, whereas I never really resonated with meditation or prayer. I've been doing this type of spiritual exercise for 30 some years now, and have never looked back.
If you're at all interested in the HU song, or the concept of contemplation or spiritual exercise, I would recommend a very easy to read introductory book called,
The Call of Soul" ($9). It has a CD in the back which has several tracks on how anybody of any religion or spiritual orientation can get benefits from singing the HU. BTW, Hallelujah came from the ancient song of HU.
I firmly believe we should try to find things of a spiritual nature that suits our own individuality, and not try to force ourselves into something that isn't necessarily compatible with who we are. We're all so different. Life offers us many different things to explore. For me, it felt good to break from some of my earlier religious training, and find something that works much better for me.
Good luck in whichever direction you decide to go. Who knows, perhaps your difficulties with meditation may turn out to be a blessing.
Best Regards,
Wayne